What would you buy now? It's a question that we, as self-directed investors should have to answer. Yet the question is asked everyday in almost every financial media outlet. And most of the answers lack depth and sound reasoning.

At its heart, the goal of a covered-call strategy is to lower our cost basis by generating income through the selling of call options while hedging against a pullback in the stock you own.

The most notable holdout in my office is an ex-Wall Street options trader by the name of Andy Crowder.

Today, the options world is a lot like the automobile world of 1910.

If you're like most investors, you're probably looking doubtfully at this stock market. Is it worth the risk now that many of us are back to where we were before the 2008 crash?

We're officially in crazy town, and as expected, now we are seeing sentiment change.

As soon as interest rates rise, money will slosh back into bonds - leaving these dividend funds high and dry. This investment strategy is a  a safe alternative to dividends for income investors.

I am often asked, How much of your net worth should you allocate to each investment class?

I sat down and talked with Wyatt Investment Research's resident options guru Andy Crowder about his success with options, and how he is making money for his Options Advantage subscribers.

In order to BE a successful trader, you must first learn how to think like a successful trader...

Every trader has their own approach. There is no holy grail. But this is my bread and butter trade...

Couple extreme oversold conditions with the close of a four month gap and the probability of a short-term bounce increased dramatically.

Unlike most traders, I had the great fortune to learn trading from two lifelong traders.

Every trader has their own approach. There is no holy grail. It is your responsibility as a trader to find a few trading strategies that fits into your lifestyle, and this is mine.

Two of the most notable commodities investors are once again at odds. But why do I care?...

With the belief that both interest rates and inflation will rise, this should end up being the trade of the decade.

Options trader Andy Crowder explains how you can make money even when the market is going nowhere.

I love short to intermediate time frames for trades - because it means I don't have to lock up lots of capital for a long time in order to profit.

Everything you've heard about investing from the mainstream media, your mutual fund advisor and your tax accountant is a lie.

The biggest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince the world that he doesn't exist. And the biggest mistake an investor can make is to underestimate risk in any asset class.

What should long-term investors do during a period like this where trading ranges, not an extended trend, dominates? I suggest using inverse and leveraged ETFs.

Trading options lets you control with precision the amount of risk and type of risk you wish to take in any given trade and in any situation.

All I care about is when my indicators hit extremes. I allow probabilities, not the talking heads, to define my options strategies.

A vertical credit spread is the combination of selling an option and buying an option at different strikes which lasts roughly 10 - 40 days.

Dealing with the bid/ask spread is an inevitable part of the options arena. 

The market is tanking. Investors are freaking out. The fear is palpable. And, I have been sitting patiently on the sidelines. Patience is the key to any successful long-term trading strategy.

News equals noise. When are people going to get it?

Don't let Wall Street tell you that you're too stupid.

I spoke with a gentleman from a prominent newsletter service this past week. I learned that he uses options irresponsibly in his service - as most people do. And I told him so.

We can profit from this seasonal tendency and others as they exhibit repetitive price patterns throughout the year. 

Before I begin my usual market commentary, I'd like to remind you of a very special offer from my friend and colleague, Andy Crowder.

This Saturday, Andy will reveal information about a new options trade for free! If you're interested, I urge you to click here and sign up to the pre-event list today. There's a limited number of spots available, and I know they'll fill up quickly.

The market popped again yesterday. The gains were larger on Monday, but it was still a strong showing by the bulls to rally the U.S. indices for a second straight day.

Before I get into my regular market commentary, I'd like to introduce someone to you.

If you're in the market for more than a few weeks - at the very most - you're probably wasting your time. You're just not using market movements effectively. And you know that's how I make profits with TradeMaster.

Enter someone you may be familiar with: Andy Crowder.

Professional options traders are a different breed. We take a statistical, mathematical, rational approach to the marketplace. We add another layer of probability and risk control that could not be possible with stocks alone.

As an options trader I am often asked about my favorite options strategy for producing income. And recently, after working with Ian Wyatt on an issue for SmallCap Investor Daily, "What You Need to Know Before Using Options on Small Cap Stocks," I have been bombarded with questions from small cap investors about how to trade small cap stocks for income using options.

In my opinion, the best way to bring in income from options on a regular basis is by selling vertical spreads, otherwise known as credit spreads. 

On Monday I proposed an income-based options trade using the Russell 2000 proxy ETF (IWM).

With IWM trading at $70.86 I placed the following credit spread:

• Sell to open IWM Sep11 78 call
• Buy to open IWM Sep11 80 call for a total net credit of $0.24

To briefly recap: a credit spread is when you perform two or more options transactions simultaneously and collect up front income - or a credit - for your account.

A debit spread would be the opposite: two or more options transactions that you pay up front - or debit - your account...

The reprieve from Euro-news was short-lived. News that the Fed has been meeting with the executives at U.S. branches of European banks is raising the fear level of investors this morning.

It's being reported that one European bank has recently borrowed $500 billion from the European Central Bank. And that's the first time such lending has taken place since February.

Needless to say, at least some European banks are having liquidity problems. The recent statements from European banks like France's Societe Generale that they are fine are being called into question. Rightfully so.

I'm excited to announce that I just activated my brokerage account to trade options.

Now, I know options might seem like a departure from my commodities background. And the overwhelming public perception of options is that they're risky.

Of course, public perception of stocks is that they're safe, and the public barely seems to understand the bond market at all - so I think you'd be best advised to ignore public opinion, if not take the opposite position of whatever the public may believe.

As a great options trader once told me - professional options traders are a different breed. We take a statistical, mathematical, rational approach to the marketplace. We add another layer of probability and risk management that is not possible with stocks alone.

We make investments on things like volatility and don't always care which way a stock or ETF moves. Everything we do is at least partially hedged, which reduces the need for Maalox, Prozac and heavy drinking, which many of my stock-trading buddies rely on almost daily.

For the second time in a week, we had a "margin call" day. That's what I've started to call those days where the market sells off steadily all day, because it's as if the market itself received a margin call, and has to sell stock relentlessly, regardless of fundamentals.

Now, since I mentioned fundamentals, that's the place to begin our discussion of what's happened to the stock market lately - and what we should be doing about it.

As I wrote yesterday, analysts and strategists alike are on record saying they do not want to lower earnings forecasts for stocks. They typically cite the fact that companies have steadily grown earnings, even when economic data weakens, like last summer, when economic data was so weak, the Fed began the bond buying program known as QE2.

As an options trader I am often asked about my favorite options strategy for producing income. And recently, after working with Ian on an issue for SmallCap Investor Daily, "What You Need to Know

I've been receiving a steady barrage of questions from readers wanting to know about buying gold and silver.

While I've been answering many of these questions in a piecemeal fashion throughout issues of the Resource Prospector, I thought I'd once and for all cobble the information together in one place.

Like anything, if you're just getting started in buying gold and silver it can be a somewhat daunting process.

That's because there are about as many different precious metal vendors as there are types of coins, and it can be a bit of a minefield if you don't know EXACTLY what you're looking for, how much you should be paying, and perhaps most importantly, why you're buying precious metals in the first place.

I recently received a question from reader David W. which seems to encapsulate just about every possible angle of this topic:

I received some great emails from readers yesterday – notably a message from Mark I. who suggested buying puts as a way to profit from the tendency for the United States Natural Gas Fund (NYSE: UNG) to do nothing but lose money.

(For those readers unfamiliar with options, a put is a type of option that, to put it simply, goes up in value as the underlying asset decreases in value.)

It’s hard to argue with a strategy that could have yielded greater than 100% percent gains, month after month for the past year. I’m not exaggerating either. Options prices can surge by multiples as they approach the strike price.

Take a look at this table showing put prices for July expiration on UNG.